


Lightgazing

by LambentLaments



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Date Night, Episode: s04e09 Last One Out of Beach City, Established Relationship, F/F, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 02:02:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7994581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LambentLaments/pseuds/LambentLaments
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Months after they first met, Pearl and mystery girl are dating.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lightgazing

Steven assures you that the trail of mud your boots managed to drag in is perfectly ‘a-okay’. You apologize anyway. “Pearl likes having stuff to clean,” he says, and bounces off to call for said nerd.

“Oh my, it’s raining. I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”

As endearing as Pearl’s hand flying up to cover her mouth is, you can’t muster more than a shrug. It’s been a particularly long day at the animal shelter you worked at, and you met a downpour on your way for your date. You love your metal baby, but these are the days that you almost wish you’d gotten an actual car instead of sex on wheels.

“Well, that’s a disappointment. I thought we were going on a date.”

“Told you before, Pearl, going on a date doesn’t necessarily entail ‘going’ somewhere. We could just stay here.” You cast a longing look at the couch.

“Well, Rose was always out and about with Greg. I was under the impression an escapade was called for.”

There isn’t a tone of bitterness lacing the two names. You’re proud of how far she’s come during the few months you’ve been seeing each other, and you let it show through with a smile. “Not when it’s raining.”

“Hmm,” she taps her fingers on her chin. “I suppose we could watch a movie. I think Peridot’s left behind a couple from her stash. I had planned for stargazing but… oh!” She claps her hands together.

You raise an eyebrow and fold your arms, the latter partly to stop yourself from shivering. The house isn’t much warmer than outside, and your leather jacket isn’t proving to be as effective against the November chill as you hoped. The gesture proves fruitless as Pearl drags you along by the elbow.

“What is it?”

“I have a _surprise._ ”

“So, no plans prior?” you ask teasingly.

“No!” she says. “Because I live on the edge!” she says giddily. She got that phrase from you. It will never stop being endearing.

She pulls you to the crystal dais you’ve vaguely noticed before. Before you can ask her what magical alien technology this is, a blast of light blinds you, and when your sight comes back at the sound of a chime, you’re facing something completely different.

“Woah,” you breathe. There are strawberries everywhere, some bigger than yourself. “Is this earth?”

Pearl giggles as if you’ve told a particularly funny joke, so you guess yes. “Jokes aside, this isn’t what I brought you to see,” she says. “In fact, we better get out of here quickly. I can handle a few gem monsters by myself, but I can’t guarantee your safety as well. Human bodies are so fragile.”

You go down the stairs first, then catch her by the waist to lift her down. “How are you so tough when you’re so light?” you say in a whisper right next to her ear, earning yourself a blue blush. She coughs primly when you set her down, but her hand is still on your arm.

“It’s worked as an advantage in battles, really. At least against sentient beings, especially those indoctrinated by Homeworld- the civilization under which I was made, I think I’ve mentioned it before.”

“You have.”

Pearl doesn’t speak again for a while as she leads you out of the strawberry vines, and you imagine she’s lost in memories. You don’t pry. You were never one to. But she abruptly starts again. “To answer your question, the mechanics are quite simple, really. I never studied gemonology in depth, that’s Peridot’s forte, I’m afraid, but I think I know enough of the basics.”

“Uh, what?”

“You asked me how I was so light.”

You wonder if you should point out you were just flirting, but on second thought Pearl’s nerd talk is cute, so you stay silent.

“You know how energy can be converted to mass, and light is essentially energy, right?”

“…right.”

“Well, imagine a non-carbon based nervous system, and imagine if the electro-magnetic signals of the nervous system was sufficiently advanced enough to exist outside of its original encasings. With a strong and stable enough feed of energy to start with, the electrons and protons could create a magnetospheric plasma with fixed trajectories of the particles. This means that the mass outside of the encasing, by which I mean our gems, is a relatively free variable. By relatively, I mean that considerable changes in mass and appearances are difficult to uphold, since that would require a complete deconstruction of the nervous system. Gems with more stable and stronger covalent bonds are thus able to create bigger-“

You tune out at this point, and absentmindedly wonder if you should attempt to hold her hand, or if you should let her continue to gesture with it. It’s night here, wherever this place is, and it’s much colder than it had been. If it wasn’t for the steep hike Pearl is leading you on, you would be close to hypothermic.

“…in fact, the basic technicalities is rather similar to that.”

You look up at her words, your gaze following her finger. And you see a sky full of emerald and turquoise ribbons, painting the sky with a coalescent glow. You close your mouth, you didn’t notice it falling open. You look to Pearl and find her watching you.

“I thought you would like the view,” she says, smiling softly.

“I do, it’s” you say, and making sure to look her in the eyes, “beautiful.”

Pearl takes your hand in her small, delicate one, and leads the rest of the hike up and out of the valley. You come to a small clearing surrounded by conifers, and the two of you sit on the soft needle leaf covered ground. You’re shivering openly now, and your hair is a mess.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Pearl frets, oblivious to the cold in her skimpy ballet clothes. She makes an attempt to start a fire with rocks, and failing that, takes out her spear from her gem and uses it as a flint against a rock.

“I thought I was dating an advanced alien species, not a cave-woman,” you say, teeth chattering.

“Even we advanced alien species must make do in time of need.”

Soon, a small fire is going, and she settles down on the ground next to you. You have never been so glad to see a fire, and your limbs quickly start to regain feeling. You hold Pearl next to you, wishing she was warmer. She’s always lukewarm to the touch, her body temperature seemingly adjusting to the surroundings in a reptilian sort of way, and touching her is an oddly startling experience even now. Her hair feels nearly human however, albeit a bit stiffer. You start caressing her pink hair that’s unlike yours, monochromatic to the very roots, and she leans into your side, closing her eyes. The aurora borealis is reflected on her gem, coloring it in gentle hues. You remember what Pearl said before, and you consider the fact that you are literally holding an aurora in your hand. Gently, you move your thumb to clear her gem of loose strands and graze the surface of the pearl. Pearl stiffens, then relaxes again, somewhat like a prolonged shiver, and you frankly love it. Your thumb looks bulky against her delicate skin and gem, and you feel brutish yet vulnerable at the same time, and you can do nothing but let out the inconsistency by pushing closer against her, as if she could make you into something more.

You continue to stroke her gem, as gently as you can, all the while watching the lights change shape slowly, each frame essentially the same but somehow more awe inspiring than the last. “I missed you today,” you say. You want to stop talking as soon as you open your mouth. Your voice seems to break the magic of the moment. But Pearl’s content ‘hmm’ urges you on. “We had to put down three of the dogs today. We couldn’t risk them infecting the others. And, well, one of them was this young beagle that took a liking to me.”

“And you wish you didn’t have kill it.”

“Actually it’s more that… dammit, he begged me to play with him whenever he saw me and of course I usually didn’t. And I keep wishing I had. It would have cost so little to love all three of them a little more.”

Pearl is silent for a long time. The fire is burning down, you watch the ambers glow orange and red. “What are you thinking of?” you ask.

“The strawberry field,” Pearl says. She sits up, and looks you in the eye. You would have thought she was going to kiss you if you hadn’t know she didn’t like that at all. To be honest, you didn’t either, not with Pearl, anyway. The inside of her mouth is curiously dry and tasteless.

“Would you dance with me?” she says instead. She says it expressively, with a clear show of embarrassment, though you’re not sure why.

“Want me put on some music?” you ask, hand in your pocket and on your phone.

“If you’d like.”

You put on Mike Krol because sentiments.

You don’t do much except move haphazardly to the beat, but Pearl surprises you by going full ballet with leg splits and pirouettes or whatever it’s called. At first she looks off sync with the tone of the music, but as you find a rhythm to move alongside her, it becomes inconsequential. You keep moving closer to each other until she puts both hands on you and does a full dip while you hold her back. Her movements are pretty histrionic, and you would laugh if you didn’t know Pearl did nothing by half measures.

The song ends, and Pearl lets go. You raise an eyebrow and smile. She smiles back, but you can’t help notice she looks slightly disappointed.

“Anything wrong?”

“Oh, no. It’s nothing. It’s…” she looks embarrassed. She goes off in a monologue. “I knew it wouldn’t work but what with Smoky Quartz and of course Stevonnie, I thought it was worth a try.”

You have no idea what she’s saying. “Sure.”

Hiding her embarrassment with a smile, she bustles about, putting the rest of the fire out. “We better get going, shouldn’t we? Oh, dear, it’s so late.”

Watching her, you get a faint idea. “Pearl?”

“Yes?”

“Were you trying some alien sex thing?”

Pearl’s face was very blue. “I wouldn’t call it ‘sex’.”

“But that’s because you’re so proper, isn’t it?” you say teasingly.

“Oh, Stella, darling. You don’t have any idea of the things I’ve done.”

Of course you don’t. You probably never will. Against the backdrop of the lights and the mountains, you imagine Pearl a thousand years from now, the scenery just the same, excepting you yourself.

“I wish it had worked. Whatever it was.”

“I hoped so, too. I'm still glad we tried, though."

"So am I."

**Author's Note:**

> I got so giddy watching the episode I wanted to write something short and fluffy. How the sci-fi crap and musings about mortality creeped in I don't know.


End file.
